Advice to Israel: Slow down the Trump name train

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

The Israeli Minister of Transportation, Yisrael Katz, intends to honor President Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by naming a new train station after him in the Old City that would allow thousands of tourists directly into the Jewish Quarter a few hundred yards from the Western Wall.

I would recommend that he wait until the clouds over the Trump administration and President Trump involving the Special Counsel and the women who are suing him for harassment are cleared before he takes a step that could be embarrassing in the future. Over the last year the U.S. has experienced remorse over statues that were established during the Jim Crow period because they celebrated a war fought over slavery and did not comport with our values. President Trump used those episodes to further divide the country while being unsympathetic to that period of history.

Recognizing Jerusalem has been cheered by many and for good reason, but it also should be seen as what it really is: a negotiating chip so that the president can claim a “win” and while he is at it, satisfy the large Evangelical portion of his so-called base by playing up his support for Israel. What is missing is sincere interest in real Jews. The President had an opportunity to distinguish himself by standing up for Jewish values by condemning the events in Charlottesville, but he did not and he willingly accepts the support from groups of neo-Nazis as represented by their response to President Trumps’ characterization of immigrants and refugees from s—hole countries. According to the Daily Stormer website his remarks were seen as support for their alt-right/ anti Semitic ideology.

Robert BermanSt. Petersburg

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